


In the Blood and Smoke

by oneifby (orphan_account)



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Backstory, F/M, head canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-16
Updated: 2013-07-16
Packaged: 2017-12-20 09:18:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/885587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/oneifby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tiny fic because I HAVE FEELINGS ABOUT THE RUSSIAN PILOTS. Criminally underused, tbh.<br/>Unedited, written in someone's Tumblr fanmail (thanks Arielle!).</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Blood and Smoke

**Author's Note:**

> This drawing is a commissioned piece from Noelle Stevenson, aka [gingerhaze](gingerhaze.tumblr.com). It is also my favorite thing ever.
> 
>   
> 

When they meet, it's in the middle of war. Not the wars their parents fought against hunger and fear and to keep them alive. Or their grandparents, against the invaders, the Fritzes and the sookas. They're in the middle of a storm, debris and concrete raining down around them and Aleksis sees Sasha in the middle of the street, right in front of the advancing Kaiju. Her bright blonde hair and red lipstick stand out against the unending grey smoke. He sees her, in the midst of the rubble, laughing.

  
He walks up to her and introduces himself and Sasha just raises an eyebrow. Only when he invites her to the Jaeger factory does she smile at him, a hungry smile.

* * *

They pass the security guards, the welders, the soldiers. Aleksis is still walking when he realizes that she's no longer with him. He turns.

Sasha is staring up at the newest Jaeger. It's not even halfway done, but it's thick and rough and bigger than any building she's ever seen. It's built to outlast them, to stand as long as there is breath in its pilots' lungs. "What's this one called?" she asks him, still staring up at the Jaeger.

"Chernobyl," he replies.

She's silent for a moment, walking around the fighter and examining it. "Cherno Alpha," she replies finally.

"Why Alpha?"

"From Alpha to Omega," she answers, grey eyes looking through him. "Until the end."

They build it together, learning every part of the Jaeger as they go through training. The welders and other workers are skeptical at first, keeping their distance. Like everyone else on the base, they're frightened of the monster of a man and the ice queen. They build in silence, stealing looks at Sasha and Aleksis, who work as though they can read each other's minds already, getting tools before the other can ask.

" _Chyort voz'mi_ ," [shit] Sasha swears, catching her shoulder on a rough piece of metal. The others stop at the sight of blood seeping through her shirt and Aleksis freezes. Sasha looks up at the silence, meeting Aleksis's eyes. She shrugs and laughs.

" _Sookin syn_ ," [Son of a bitch] one of the workers ventures.

" _Shluha vokzal'naja_ ," [Train station whore] Sasha agrees, and all the workers laugh with her. They come up to her and Aleksis after that, seeing the man who panicked at Sasha's wound instead of the one rumored to have killed twenty in one-on-one combat. They offer suggestions, tips, and Sasha listens carefully.

* * *

The others at the base do not understand right away. They talk in hushed tones in the dining hall, behind their backs. Sasha catches wisps of the conversation but ignores them. It doesn't matter. These people don't matter.

But when one of the men from another Jaeger spits " _b_ _lyadischa_ " [whore] at her as they pass in the hallway, even Aleksis hears that. He bristles, about to rip the man's head off, when Sasha puts her hand up. He looks at her, at the pilot, and back to her. She shakes her head minutely and he takes a step back. The pilot relaxes from his fighting stance just an inch, and that's when Sasha slams his face against the cold iron wall, breaking his nose, and pulls his arm up behind him. He whimpers and the others back away. Sasha leans in close to his ear.

"The only reason you still have a hand, _dolboeb_ ," [fuckhead]  she says quietly and calmly, "is because we don't have time to train another Jaeger pilot. Vy ponimayete?" [Understand?] The man uses the tiny range of motion she allows him to nod yes, and she lets go, lets him slide to the floor. Sasha turns and stalks away. Aleksis peers at the crumpled heap and spits on him.

"ALEKSIS," she calls, already turning the next corner, and he hurries to catch up.

* * *

One day when she's bored of the training and the taunts, she shows up in his room, slamming open the door he could have sworn was locked.

"We're dying your hair, _tolstak,_ " [fatass] she tells him and he flinches. She sets him up in a chair, sheet around his neck, and pulls a bowl from the floor. The hydrogen peroxide burns for the minutes she leaves it in. But once she rinses his hair in the sink, running her hands through his hair, he relaxes into her touch. Her fingers rub his ear affectionately. "Done," she announces far too soon.

He rubs his chin. "What about the beard?" he asks. "The beard can stay," she declares, and winks. "People will know you're mine just by the hair." He smiles up at her and she strokes his cheek and they live in that moment for longer than they have any right to, in this world, in the time they have left.

* * *

When the alarm comes, they know. "Two," she says. Aleksis nods. As they're putting on their suits, she sneaks up behind him and wraps her arms around him, firmly but quickly. He writes a quick note about what to do with their belongings. There's not much, they live at the base and only have what is necessary but better to be safe, he thinks.

They get into their baby, the only child they'll ever had, and their men standing behind them salute the Kaidanovskies. They salute in response, eyes scanning the crowd. Sasha nods sternly to them and they turn and walk away.

The monster is larger than any that they've ever fought. Cherno Alpha strains and creaks under the weight. They push through the water and stand tall against the Kaiju. They don't talk. There's no need to. This is what they were born to do, have always done.

  
One arm rips off, then another. The monster breaks through the hull, exposing them to the crisp, clear night. They brace for the final impact as he approaches again, sending them into the deep.

  
" _Dasvidaniya_ ", he says.

  
"Until we meet again", she agrees. Their arms move in unison. Even with the drift gone, they mirror each other as they reach out to clasp hands. This is the fashion in which they sink to the bottom. This is how they are found.


End file.
